Page 81 of Austin
She’d repeated the words so many times that they blurred together in her head, had essentially lost meaning, but still made her feel better. The door was open when she reached the room and she paused before going inside. His eyes were shut, his skin pale, his hair sticking out in random spikes against the pristine pillow. There was a nasty abrasion up one side of his face, another on his sinewy forearm, which rested atop the white sheet covering his lower body.
Kristen walked toward the bed, coming to a stop a few feet away, giving herself time to process the extent of Austin’s injuries. The adrenaline that had kept her going for the past six hours was dissipating, leaving her feeling weak. Exhausted. And close to tears.
She could cry later. When she was alone.
She dropped her purse on the counter and was about to take a seat in the chair next to the bed when Austin’s eyes opened. He frowned as he fought to focus, making her wonder if he thought she was some kind of a drug-induced hallucination.
“Why are you here?” The words croaked out of his dry lips.
Would he remember this conversation in the morning?
Judging from his almost fully dilated pupils, she guessed the answer was no. But if he did remember, he’d be chewing on the truth. “Shelby called.”
Another slow-motion frown formed as he digested that bit of information. “Shelb?”
“Yeah.”
His eyes drifted shut again, a grimace of pain forming on his face. “Why?”
She could barely hear him, so she moved closer. “Maybe she figured out something you didn’t.”
It took him a few seconds to say, “What?”
“We’ll talk about that later.” At length.
His thumb clicked the medication button he held in one hand and then his hand relaxed. He’d drifted off again…or so Kristen thought, until he said her name.
She moved closer to the bed, fighting the urge to touch him. Feel the warm of this body, the reassuring beat of his heart under her hand. “Yes?”
Austin pulled in a deep breath, his face contorting as his chest rose. He exhaled painfully, then whispered, “You shouldn’t be here.”
Kristen had expected the rejection. Had steeled herself for it.
It still stung.
She gave her head a weary shake. “But I am here.”
And there wasn’t a lot Austin could do about it.
*
It was thescent that tugged at him, urging him to surface, to open his eyes. Delicately floral with just a hint of something else. Some kind of spice. Kristen’s scent.
As soon as he came fully conscious, Austin rolled his head to the side, fully expecting to find her sitting next to him, but the chair beside the bed was empty. Marshaling his strength, he lifted his head. The bathroom door was open. The curtains that divided the room were pushed to the wall.
There was no one in the room.
But she’d been there. He was certain of it.
He fumbled for the medication pump and found that it was gone. Probably a good thing. His leg, his entire lower body, ached like a son of a bitch, but he wanted a clear head as he dealt with this new wrinkle in his life.
He slowly lifted the sheet to take a look at his lower body. His right leg was wrapped and when he shifted it even minutely, he could feel trouble brewing. His right hip hurt like hell, his right shoulder didn’t want to move and he could feel the bruise throbbing on that side of his face. The nurse came in during his once-over, introduced herself as Dani, and made him tell her his name and birthdate before setting about making him more comfortable. As if that were even a possibility. “Want to give me a rundown on what all they did to me last night?”
She smiled. “The bull or the doctor?”
“Let’s go with the doctor.”
“Looks like you have a rod in your lower leg, and other than that, bruising and swelling. A minor concussion. You got off lightly from what I hear.”
